At The Great-West Life Assurance Company, The Canada Life Assurance Company and London Life Insurance Company (collectively, the Company), we recognize and respect the importance of security. This Internet Security Statement covers the measures that the Company takes to help secure your personal information. This Internet Security Statement is subject to change without notice to you, so we recommend that you review it regularly. By using this site you acknowledge that you have read and understand this Internet Security Statement as amended from time to time.
Encryption
Encryption technology is designed to secure personal and confidential communications between your computer and the Company servers, such that they are protected from being read by any third parties. This is achieved by "scrambling" communications so that they are unreadable by anyone other than the Company or yourself. The Company web applications require 128-bit SSL encryption — the standard for encrypting and safeguarding websites. You can verify that the Company’s website is encrypted by looking for the golden lock or key icon along the bottom of your browser window, which is used by most browsers to indicate a secure connection.
Time-outs and automatic log outs
Some Company websites may require you to log in using a user name and password. While you are logged in, if you leave your browser window open, Company applications will automatically log you out after 25 minutes of inactivity. Similarly, if you close your browser window without logging out, you will be automatically logged out. Both of these measures are designed to protect your information from unintended access by a passerby or different user of your computer.
E-mail fraud
Be cautious of email and websites purporting to represent a legitimate company and that ask you to provide confidential or financial information. It is not the Company’s practice to email you to ask you to provide or confirm your PIN, password, or other confidential or financial information, other than as may occur in response to an inquiry from you. If you receive such a request, or have any concern as to the validity of an email from the Company, a website purporting to be a Company website, or our online security, please notify us immediately. Please attach any suspicious e-mail in its original form, or in the case of a website please include the URL (address of the website) in your notification. For information on various types of email fraud, please visit the E-mail Fraud / Phishing page page on the RCMP website.
Fake job postings scam
On various websites and social media there have been fake job postings for a customer service representative position working from home. The job posting looks legitimate, but the reply link is to an email address instead of connecting directly to our official careers website.
Typically, the fraudster will reply to you by email and request to conduct a job interview using a chat related app (e.g., WhatsApp, Google hangouts), and send you a realistic looking job offer. The fraudster may send you a fake cheque using the chat app to pay for a Laptop and software required for the job, and instruct you to deposit the cheque using your cell phone. This cheque is not legitimate. The fraudster may then instruct you to provide personal information, and to send funds via an e-Transfer or other method.
Please note that we will never request payment or funds from a new hire as a condition of employment. If you see a job advertised, go to our official careers website and check to see if that job is actually posted. Any legitimate job posting will link directly to our company web site.
Other security measures
The Company engages in a number of other security activities to help ensure the safety and privacy of your personal information. This includes adopting measures to help secure our computers against hacker attacks and virus activities by a number of different means. We monitor our website, servers and data 24 hours a day to help us immediately identify and rectify any problems.
Security tips you can use
You can also contribute to the security of your information by following a few straightforward principles:
- For Company sites requiring a password:
- Pick a password that is unique and hard for others to guess. A strong password includes a combination of upper- and lower-case letters and numbers. Avoid passwords such as family or pet names, birthdays, or words found in dictionaries.
- Memorize your password, and don't tell it to anyone. Remember no one from the Company will ever call or e-mail asking for your password.
- If you think anyone has had access to your password, change it immediately by logging in and clicking the Your Profile From the Your Profile section, follow the simple instructions to change your password.
- If you are using a computer in a public place (such as an Internet café, or an open desk at work), ensure that no one can see you type in your password, log off when you are finished using the site and clear the browser's cache.
- Run current anti-virus software and anti-spyware software on your computer. This helps ensure your computer is free of malicious programs such as viruses, worms and spyware (snooping software that collects and shares confidential information on your computer with a third party without your consent).
- After using a Company application, clear your browser's cache and then close it. The cache is where a browser keeps copies of the web pages you have recently visited. By clearing it, you help ensure no one else can view these pages, including the next website you visit.